Neutrality obligations in the digital value chain – challenges & recommendations

Bruno Liebhaberg is Executive Chairman of the think tank Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE) which he founded in 2010.

From 2018 to 2021, he was also the first Chairman of the European Union Observatory on the Online Platform Economy. He is also an Honorary Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles’ Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (SBS-EM ULB) where he taught from 1979 to 2018. Earlier in his career, he advised former European Commission President Jacques Delors on industry and R&D matters related to the completion of the EU Single Market.

He holds a Master’s in management sciences from SBS-EM ULB and a Ph.D. in Industrial Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

¹Also representing B.LIEBHABERG S.A., Director General

²Member of the Strategic Committee

Richard Feasey is a CERRE Senior Adviser, an Inquiry Chair at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and Member of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales.

He lectures at University College and Kings College London and the Judge Business School.

He has previously been an adviser to the UK Payments Systems Regulator, the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee and to various international legal and economic advisory firms.

He was Director of Public Policy for Vodafone plc between 2001 and 2013.

Brice Allibert is Deputy Head of Unit for Antitrust: Information Industries, Consumer Electronics & Internet at the European Commission’s DG COMP. He has previously worked in particular on the Intel, Google (Shopping and Android) and Qualcomm cases.

Prior to joining the European Commission in 2000, he worked as a specialist of aircraft electromagnetics in the French Ministry of Defense.

He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the Ecole Polytechnique, in Paris.

Jan Krämer is an Academic Co-Director at CERRE and a Professor at the University of Passau, Germany, where he holds the chair of Internet & Telecommunications Business.

Previously, he headed a research group on telecommunications markets at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where he also obtained a diploma degree in Business and Economics Engineering with a focus on computer science, telematics and operations research, and a Ph.D. in Economics, both with distinction.

He is editor and author of several interdisciplinary books on the regulation of telecommunications markets and has published numerous articles in the premier scholarly journals in Information Systems, Economics, Management and Marketing research on issues such as net neutrality, data and platform economy, and the design of electronic markets.

Professor Krämer has served as academic consultant for leading firms in the telecommunications and Internet industry, as well as for governmental institutions, such as the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and the European Commission.

His current research focuses on the role of data for competition and innovation in online markets and the regulation of online platforms.

Werner Stengg is a digital expert at the European Commission. Prior to fulfilling responsibilities as a member of Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager’s Cabinet, he was Head of Unit in various DGs since 2006, responsible for E-commerce and online platforms, for postal and public interest services, and for better regulation and economic analysis. His experience within the European Institutions also includes positions in DG Budget, in DG Enterprise, and the European Council of Ministers. He holds a doctorate in commerce and economics from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.

Lorelien Hoet is Director of EU Government Affairs at Microsoft. In this role, she has been dealing notably with data protection, European telecommunications regulation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

Before joining Microsoft in 2018, she worked as a legal executive at Proximus, and held different positions including Head of Legal Consumer business, and Director of Regulatory Affairs at Mobistar (Orange) in charge of the follow-up and application of telecommunications regulation and competition law files.

She holds an LL.M from KU Leuven.

Johan Keetelaar is Director of Public Policy, Connectivity & Access EMEA at Facebook. In this role, he oversees Facebook’s policy activities in Europe, Middle-East and Africa, primarily in the field of connectivity.

Prior to this, Mr Keetelaar was Director of Regulation and Competition at the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM). He also worked at the Netherlands Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority (OPTA) as the Director of Markets. Prior to that, he worked in the telecommunications and aviation industry for almost ten years.

He holds a Master’s degree in Econometrics from the University of Amsterdam.

Eduardo Lanza is Senior Manager of EU Affairs at Telefónica in Brussels.

Prior to this role, he worked as Senior Manager for Wholesale and ISP Corporations and as a Marketing Manager, also at Telefónica. Before joining the telecoms company he worked at Microsoft and Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

He holds a Master’s degree in Communications and Media Regulation from the Florence School of Regulation, European University Institute.

Professor Antonio Nicita is a Member of the Board at the Italian Regulatory Authority AGCOM and a Professor of Economic Policy at the Department of Economics and Law at Sapienza University, Rome.

He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Society of Law and Economics, European Association of Law and Economics and of the International Society for New Institutional Economics (ISNIE).

Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Siena, Visiting Fulbright Professor at Yale University and a Non-Governmental Adviser of International Competition Network (ICN) for the report on telecommunications sector.

He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Siena, Italy.

Alexandre de Streel is the Academic Director of the digital research programme at the Brussels think-tank Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), professor of European law at the University of Namur and visiting professor at the College of Europe (Bruges) and SciencesPo Paris. He sits in the scientific committees of the Knight-Georgetown Institute (US), the European University Institute-Centre for a Digital Society (Italy) and the Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (Germany).

His main research areas are regulation and competition policy in the digital economy (telecommunications, platforms and data) as well as the legal issues raised by the developments of artificial intelligence. He regularly advises the European Union and international organisations on digital regulation.

Previously, Alexandre held visiting positions at New York University Law School, the European University Institute in Florence, Panthéon-Assas (Singapore campus), Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and the University of Louvain. He also worked for the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, the Belgian Permanent Representation to the European Union, and the European Commission. He has also been the chair of the expert group on the online platform economy, advising the European Commission.

Tania Van den Brande is Director of Economics at Ofcom. Before joining Ofcom, she worked at RBB Economics as an Economic Consultant. She advised clients in front of European and national competition authorities in relation to a wide range of competition matters. She holds a Master’s degree in European Economics from the College of Europe, as well as a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia.

Alexis Walckiers is Chief Economist at the Belgian Competition authority. He also teaches Microeconomics at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (Université libre de Bruxelles) as a visiting professor and is a member of the research centre ECARES.

He has published several papers in competition and economic journals, including the Journal of the European Economic Association. He has previously advised the Minister of Economic Affairs on competition issues and has worked for Oxera, an economic consultancy.

Prabhat Agarwal is Head of Unit “Digital Services and Platforms” at the European Commission’s DG CONNECT.

He comes from a background of academic and industrial research, covering a broad range of fundamental science and commercial high-tech projects. He joined the European Commission in 2007 and has since then covered a variety of digital innovation and regulatory areas.

He holds a Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics from the University of Cambridge.